Raymond

Last name:
Raymond

SDB Popularity ranking:
664

This distinguished surname, found in England and France, derives from the Old Norman/French personal name "Raimund", "Raimond" or the Old Germanic personal name "Raginmund", which is composed of the Germanic elements "ragin", counsel and "mund", protection. English variants of the surname include Raymont, Rayment and Raiment. The personal name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Raimundus" in Essex and "Reimundus" circa 1121 - 1148, in Suffolk, according to the Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St.
Edmunds. The surname first appears in the late 11th Century (see below). One William Reimunt was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Hampshire, in 1207, and the Pipe Rolls of Kent list an Ernald Reimund in 1208. Sir Thomas Raymond (1627 - 1683) became a judge on the exchequer bench in 1679 and later was knighted and transferred to the common pleas and King's bench. Robert Raymond (1673 - 1733) Lord Chief Justice of the King's bench was granted a Coat of Arms, which depicts a chevron between three gold eagles, with a rose between two red fleur-de-lis on a red chief, all on a black shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Giraldus Reimundus, which was dated 1086, in the "Domesday Book of Essex", during the reign of King William 1st, known as "William the Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.